Hitori Ja Nai (You're Not Alone)
by Tenshi Meino
Summary: Chichiri's past unfolds from childhood. This fic is about Houjun's (Chichiri's) life before
1. Tomodachi

**Prologue**  
  


The sparkling blue river cut through the forests of Konan, having no inquisition unto itself. It traveled down mountains, through towns and villages, often times noticed and put to work. Sometimes reduced to nothing but a trickling stream, but at times a force powerful enough to knock a building over. It gave drink to those who thirst, and danger to those in its turbulent rapids. Who would have thought that such a simple thing, such a necessity of nature, had the power to bestow and take life?   
It connected, combined, and gave itself unto strange waters. Fulfilling its endless destiny of becoming one with others, and again being alone on its own marked trail in the world. A cruel, cold destiny, some people might think. To always find others, be with them, become friends with them, and maybe even love them, but to have no choice but to leave them with no guarantee of meeting again. But, despite all this, the river brings with it little scrapes of 'knowledge' of what it had learned, lived, and went through. Be it painful or happy scraps, it is something that will always be carried in the depths of its being.....  
Such is the destiny of a single entity in this mysterious world. Such is the path 'he' will enter, a path 'he' will go through, and such is the path that 'he' will overcome. Such is the fate of 'he' who lives in the town of Shouryuu. The town of "The Rising Dragon".  
  


*~*~*~*~*  
  
**Hitori Ja Nai (You're Not Alone)  
** Episode 1:   
Tomodachi  
  


  
"YOU GIVE IT BACK NOW!!!!"  
  
The young boy with hair that about matched the color of the clear blue sky that day, ran as fast as he could, his face covered with exhaustion, but strewn clearly with amusement. His amber eyes sparkled with excitement as he looked down at the shirt and the long piece of cloth he held in his hands. Giggling uncontrollably he hid behind an old, overturned cart he spotted a few feet to his right. He put a hand to his mouth to muffle his laughter and noticed his hard panting. _You're being a bad boy_, he thought to himself. _I know, I know_. He agreed silently, _But it WAS Hikou's own fault. I had no other choice but to do something. He did push me into the mud! _ He dusted his filthy clothes subconsciously while he thought this and grinned. _Well, he didn't mean it!_ his conscience told him. _Yeah, yeah. But I still didn't like it......Yes you did,_ contradicted the little voice in his head. He replayed the scene in his head as his grin spread broadly across his face. Hikou and he were walking down the street when the clumsy Hikou tripped over something on the road--no big surprise--bringing down Houjun with him as he hit the floor. It was all well and good for Hikou, he didn't have a speck of dirt on him. But Houjun was practically drenched from head to toe from a large mud puddle next to Hikou. Hikou had burst out laughing just then, and that's when Houjun quickly stripped off Hikou's shirt and the ribbon that held up his pants, and ran away with them in amazing speed.  
"I KNOW YOU'RE HERE SO GIMME BACK MY THINGS NOW!!!" a voice screeched, interrupting his thoughts. Houjun cautiously peered out from behind the cart and saw a very embarrassed Hikou standing only a couple feet away from him. Hikou was blushing furiously, his hands struggling to hold up his pants.   
_If I stay here, he'll be sure to find me..._thought Houjun, _but if I run he'll see me and go after me_. Houjun sat behind the cart pondering over his thoughts as Hikou drew closer and closer to his hiding spot. _The forest! I'll run there! Even if he follows me, he'll never be able to find me in the woods! _ Houjun scrambled to his feet and started sprinting off quickly, only allowing a half-glance at Hikou who was alarmingly right next to the cart.   
"There you are! Gimmebackmystuff!" Hikou screamed at Houjun when he popped out from behind the cart. Hikou sighed silently, brought up his pants, adjusted his grip on them better, and ran after Houjun grudgingly. _ He's fast,_ thought Hikou as he struggled to catch up to Houjun. His surroundings had quickly blurred and his eyes focused on his best friend, who was running very fast, practically setting record time. Hikou didn't even notice himself entering the woods.   
Houjun looked back and was a bit surprised when he saw that Hikou was catching up and sprinted faster although he felt as if his lungs would burst at any second. Their laughter chorused through the forest, united with the gentle chirps of the birds, the rustle of the grass, and the rushing sound of the river.   
"You'd better catch up, or I'll throw your pants in the river!" Houjun called out jokingly.   
"You better not! You're mean!" Hikou stuck out his tongue and closed his eyes in suit at Houjun although he knew he was just kidding.   
  
*S  
P  
L  
A  
S  
H  
!*  
  
"Hmm? What was that?" Houjun said, turning around sharply. He scanned the area, Hikou was not in site. "Hey Hikou! Hey! Where ar~~re you!" Houjun walked a few feet forward and suddenly heard a strange thrashing sound.  
"Heeeeellppp!! I'm gonna drown! Heeelp!" Hikou was submerged in the river, trying to stay afloat. Houjun made his way over to Hikou and smirked slyly. Houjun burst out laughing and tossed Hikou's clothes to the struggling figure. "What are you doing!! My clothes can't help me right now!!!! I'm gonna die! I don't wanna diee!!"  
"The same all the time....Hey Hikou, did you try standing up?" Houjun said as he grinned.  
"What are you saying?! Of cour--" Hikou eyes bulged out as he stood about knee deep in the water. "I knew that!" he said as he wound the sash around his waist and slipped on his wet shirt. "I was just pretending so you can give me back my stuff!"  
"Uh-huh," Houjun said sarcastically, nodding his head slowly.  
"But I did! See how smart I am? You even gave me back my clothes!"  
"Yea, I know, I believe you."  
"BUT I DID!!"  
"Hai, shinjiteru."  
"Grrr...your mean." Hikou growled, making his out of the river bank.  
"In what way? I said I believed you." Houjun put his hands behind his head and whistled as he strolled off.  
Hikou pursed his lips together in the same manner and tried to whistle, but not to much avail. "Show off," he muttered under his breath.  
"I heard that," Houjun said giving Houjun a joking glare. He walked back to Hikou and linked their arms together. "Come on. Let's go back before the grown-ups notice." Hikou agreed and dragged Houjun with him as he leaped forward.  
*CRASH*  
"Eh...gomen," Hikou said apologetically.   
Houjun, squashed between his ditzy friend and the soft, light colored, ground managed a frustrated and muffled reply. "Will you ever learn?!"  
Hikou sweatdropped, and rolled off Houjun. Houjun jumped to his feet and brushed himself off.  
"What do you keep tripping on?" Houjun asked, "That's the third time today, and that's a lot. Even for you." He crossed his arms across his chest and scowled at Hikou.  
Hikou retreated a bit as Houjun slowly charged at him. Houjun's hands were spread out in front of him, palms forward, bunched up as if he meant to strangle Hikou. Fortunately, Hikou stumbled unexpectedly, and crashed to the floor once again. Houjun put his hands to his side and grinned.  
"You're so clumsy," Houjun commented helping Hikou up. Hikou grinned up at Houjun, as a painful moan escaped his lips.   
"Are you okay?" Houjun asked. He furrowed his brow in concern and quickly started checking Hikou for injuries.  
"...that wasn't me." Hikou said. He grew stiff and his eyes darted around the area. Houjun stopped and looked around too. "There! Do you here that?"   
Houjun listened carefully, and heard a soft, shallow breathing noise followed by a small moan. "Yea, where is it coming from?"  
"I don't know." Hikou answered. They stuck their ears out and listened carefully in the direction on the sound. It seemed to be very close to them, but at the same time all around them. The more they listened, the closer it seemed to get and the moaning became as steady as the moving ground below them.  
Moving ground?!! they both thought at the same time. The boys jump started and ran to a large boulder a few feet away.  
"What was that?" inquired Hikou.  
"Dunno." Houjun responded after a slight pause, "Lemme check." He peered around the edge of the boulder and gave a startled gasp. "Hikou-chan! My gosh, I think you killed him!"  
"Eh! Nani yo?!" burst out Hikou in outrage, "Who, huh? What are you talking about?! Whatever it is, it's your fault too!"   
Houjun remained silent, his gaze focused on the object they had run from.  
"Hm! Lemme see, move." Hikou climber over Houjun and looked over the boulder as well.  
"Hey, watch my leg."  
"Sorry, I just wanted to--" Hikou cut off his sentence as he came within view of the present object of interest. A young boy, probably only a few years younger than themselves, was sprawled face-first into the ground. His shirt was torn in several places. and blood was gushing out of one of his shoulders staining his lavender hair that was let down freely in a tangled mass. The boy's pale face contracted painfully at each breath, and he let out a soft moan. Hikou turned his eyes away and looked at Houjun whose gaze was still fixed on the injured boy.  
"Did we do that?" he whispered softly to Houjun. He fiddled with his hands as fear settled in his heart.  
"Iie, I don't think so." Houjun took his gaze away from the injured boy, his placid face unreadable. "Hikou-chan, let's go and see if we can help."  
"Alright." Hikou agreed hesitantly.  
Houjun approached the boy and checked him over carefully. "He's soaked and he's losing blood fast," Houjun observed. Hikou hid behind him and poked the injured boy with a long twig.  
"What are you doing?!" Houjun asked Hikou, gently slapping him in the back of the head.  
"Checking. Just checking," Hikou answered. "What if he's like a monster in disguise or something...or even worse! What if he's like some kind of person with the power to turn into anything they want, and when we touch him, we'll die or something!"  
Houjun stared at Hikou in utter amazement, paused, and smacked him hard on the back, sending him flying onto the injured boy. "Hehe...Well, you're not dead." Houjun commented laughing.  
Hikou scowled up at Hikou and got up hastily. "Come on, I thought we were going to help him," he said changing the subject, his voice full of anger but with a trace of relief. Houjun just smiled and rechecked the injured boy.  
"Here, help me take off his shirt," Houjun concluded after a short analysis.  
"Huh? Why?...echii!"  
"He'll catch cold--he's soaked, baka!!"  
"Ohhh..." Hikou paused and started blankly at Houjun.  
"Well come on, don't just stare. Help me!" Houjun commanded to the spaced out Hikou. Hikou eventually came to his senses and helped Houjun, who was already undoing the boy's shirt.  
"I hope you're not scared of the sight of blood." Houjun added as an afterthought. He removed the boy's shirt and handed it to Hikou. Hikou turned pale and wrung the shirt in his hands.  
"This is bad," Houjun commented.  
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Hikou glanced over to the injured boy and turned a shade paler. A wound, barely distinguishable from his un-damaged skin because the blood had created a pool of red blood in that one section, started from his shoulder blade and down a few inches. The wound was clean cut and narrow in width, but very deep.  
"He's losing blood, we've got to stop it before it's all gone," Houjun said gravely, answering Hikou's question.  
"How do we that?"  
"Apply pressure to the wound."  
"Huh?"  
"Give me your shirt."  
"No way! I'm not going to let you touch my clothes ever again!"  
"Come on. I'm not joking, we need to do something, and fast."  
Hikou removed his shirt which was still a bit wet from their little river adventure.  
"Alright. Thanks." Houjun said taking it from Hikou. Houjun pressed it onto the wound and Hikou's shirt slowly absorbed the blood.   
"It's surprising." Houjun said after awhile.  
"What?"  
"He only has one injury..."  
"Yeah, so."  
"Did you notice that his shirt is full or rips and practically covered in blood?"  
"Hai....and?"  
"He only has one wound. And even though it's a really bad one, it shouldn't be enough to fill the whole shirt with blood. Not to mention some of his pants too." Houjun observed. He paused and looked up at Hikou. His face was still beheld a confused look. "He would be already dead by now if it was only his blood."  
"So what you are trying to say is...." Hikou's face filled with realization and he dropped the injured boy's shirt. "Ohh."   
"Yea, that's right." Houjun said, "It's someone else's blood on that shirt also. Probably not only one person too, by the looks of it." Houjun remarked, officially concluding the matter.  
"Where'd you learn all this?"  
"Well, after all, my dad is a doctor, and one of the best in all of Konan. He teaches me this kind of stuff all the time." A moment of silence passes between them, the injured boy's shallow breathing the only sound of human life.  
"Good. I think the blood stopped," Houjun said breaking the silence. Hikou looked relieved and his face returned to it's regular color. "Can I borrow your sash?" Houjun asked his hand outstretched.  
"But what will keep up me pants? Why don't you take off your sash?"   
"Because I'm not wearing the kind of clothes that needs one."  
"Fine." Hikou said giving in. He reluctantly gave Hikou his sash without another word. Houjun set to work be bandaging up the wound.  
"That will have to do for now. Let's try to bring him back to Shouryuu now." Houjun said walking to the river and rinsing the blood away from his hands, and Hikou's shirt. Hikou went over to the injured boy and got a hold of his legs.  
"Okay, but I'm holding his legs," he declared with a smirk as Houjun came back.  
"Alright, sure." Houjun said in a rushed voice, "Let's try to hurry, so we can get home before night time."  
"Yosh! I don't want to be stuck in this woods tonight." Hikou agreed sullenly. Houjun grabbed the injured boy under the arms and the two boys hoisted him up and walked toward the village.   
  


*~*~*~*~*  


  
Houjun and Hikou had been walking for quite a while with the injured boy slung between them, and Shouryuu was still not in sight. The silence dulled their senses, and was only broken by a few side comments like, "oops", "sorry", and "baka". The sun was already low over the horizon and boys were getting panicked, generally speeding up their process and waiting tediously for it's conclusion.  
"I think we're lost," Houjun stated abruptly in despair, stopping their procession. Hikou, in shock, as well as in exhaustion, lagged in strength and acuteness and stumbled painfully and fell. Houjun started to make an action of concern, but Hikou waved him off.  
"No, it's alright. I'm fine," He assured Houjun happily. "Lemme just stand up." Hikou put a hand to the ground to help himself up, but a gasp of pain seized his mouth and betrayed his words as he reached a full standing position. He again collapsed to the floor and immediately grabbed his ankle. Houjun laid the injured boy on the floor and rushed over to Hikou.   
"Let me see that." Houjun insisted, worry filling his face.  
"No, I'm alright! Really, Houjun-chan!" Hikou lied bluntly to Houjun taking his hands off his hands off his ankle momentarily to make a gesture of assurance. Before Hikou had the chance to re-cover his injury, Houjun grabbed his hands and examined Hikou's ankle. It was red and swollen, and appeared to be badly sprained.  
"Hikou, you can't walk with this." Houjun said solemnly, "You'll just make it worse." Hikou was about to make a come back, but bit his lip, knowing what Houjun was saying was true.  
"But what will we do?" asked Hikou practically, "We have to get that boy back to the village, and we can't just stay here in the woods forever."   
"I know...you're right." agreed Houjun, "I don't know what to do." Another moment of silence settled over them, then Hikou's voice cut through it on a serious tone.  
"Go then," Hikou decided.  
"What?" Houjun stated in disbelief.  
"I said go," Hikou said with a sigh, "Leave the boy with me, and go back to Shouryuu and find help. As fast you can, of course."  
"But I can't just--"  
"No, don't even try. I made up my mind, and I won't change it. Never...You said I couldn't even walk anyways," Hikou paused and continued as Houjun looked at him in terror, "You have already helped that boy by bandaging him up and everything, while I just stood there and was really scared."  
"That doesn't matter. I'm use to that kind of thing!" Houjun remarked angrily in despair, "Remember, my tou-san's a doctor! So I already knew that stuff!"  
"At least you were useful. I mean, the whole day, I was just doing everything wrong. I couldn't do anything at all! Nothing...except trouble you more." Hikou hung his head down in absolute surrender, "Look at me now. I suck. I got hurt just when we needed it," he continued sarcastically.   
"Don't say that." Houjun said frowning, "You've been plenty of help today!"  
"Uh-huh, yeah, like when?" Hikou asked suspiciously.  
"Well..." Houjun paused to think and cut Hikou off just before he was about to comment, "If you hadn't laughed at me when I fell in the puddle of mud, we wouldn't be able to help that boy, who would probably be dead if we didn't come along. And you helped me carry him this far too!"  
"Yea, but if I never laughed at you and I wasn't so clumsy, we wouldn't be stuck here right now." Hikou mentioned, backing up his theory.  
"That wasn't your fault," Houjun said. Hikou looked up at Houjun puzzled. "Things like that happen to everyone all the time, ne? So, it's not your fault, it's just how things happen."  
"Yea, than why does it always happen only to me?" Hikou inquired.  
"Hey, I'm happy," Houjun commented gaily. Hikou's face revealed a spark of hope, and Houjun continued, "I mean, if it didn't happen to you, it would probably happen to me instead. No way I want to be known as the town ditz."  
Hikou's eyes narrowed sharply and he punched Houjun hard on the shoulder. Houjun laughed and moved an arm's length away from Hikou. "Lemme see you reach me from there." Houjun challenged Hikou, both with a bright grin on their faces. "Ha! I knew you couldn--Hey! O--Ow!"  
Hikou pelted Houjun with rocks, laughing hysterically and Houjun rebelled. A few minutes passes in that state of forgotten troubles and absolute bliss, until they finally both laid down on the ground in weariness, the bell of laughter leaving a trace of its resonance on their tongues.  
"So I guess you won't be leaving." Hikou said returning to their original conversation.  
"Nope, never." Houjun answered smiling up into the vast sky above them now dotted with stars. The boys lay there resting and taking it all in, when an idea popped into Hikou's mind.  
"Hey! Why don't we build a fire!" Hikou explained excitingly, "Maybe one of the adults will see the smoke and they'll come save us!" Houjun stared at Hikou shocked.  
"You're so smart!" Houjun said commending Hikou's efforts, and hastily sitting up in a sitting position. "Told you you'd help in some way!"  
"YOSH!!" they said in unison. They both burst out laughing, and began looking for firewood. Within a matter of minutes they had a nice, well-controlled bonfire going and they sat in front of it with the injured boy laid out between them.  
"Yup, this is the life," Houjun whispered happily. Hikou, who was only half-awake mumbled an agreement and ran into the arms of the dream fairy, his light snores filling up the silent forest. Houjun smiled at the sleeping form of his friend. _My ****_best _friend. Forever_, he thought. Nothing would ever change that, he was sure.   
  
*OWARI* Episode 1: Tomodachi  
  
_Language Notes:_  
*hai, shinjiteru means yes, I believe you  
*tomodachi means friend  
*echii means pervert, but it's not as bad as the word hentai  
*yosh is japanese for "Alright!", "Yea!!", etc.  
*Nani means what  
*baka means silly, stupid, idiot, etc.  
*ne? means right?  
*Owari means The End  
  
**_Disclaimer:_**  
Fushigi Yuugi and the characters Houjun and Hikou do not belong to me!! They belong to the almighty Watase Yuu-sama, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, Badau, TV Tokyo, Movic, Studio Pierrot, and other great people whom I have no idea exist. The U.S. rights are owned by Viz Communications and Pioneer.   
The story itself is mine. So please do not take it without my permission first. If you would like to post this fic on your webpage or something, please e-mail me at OChichiriNoMikoO@aol.com. Arigatou gozaimashta!!  
  
**Author's Notes:**  
Wow! Kewl! Your actually reading this! ^_^ Jus' some notes for ya. Well, as you can tell, Chichiri's (Houjun's) personality is sorta different in this fic than from the FY charcter. That's only because Houjun is only a young in this stage and one can see in the Chichiri novel, "Shouryuu Den", that Houjun has a personality that a eventually grows into the present Chichiri. Yea, so I just wanted to clarify that. ^_^;; This is my first fic, so please bear with me. If you have any comments, compliments, or recommendations about my fic I would love to hear from you! Just send an e-mail to OChichiriNoMikoO@aol.com.   



	2. Mugen to Kaibyaku

**Hitori Ja Nai (You're Not Alone)**  
Episode 2: Mugen to Kaibyaku  


  
  
Darkness embrace the empty void, light footsteps echoed off its invisible walls, hinting the only sign of life. "Hello?" called out a small, quivering voice. "Moshi Moshi?" it called out jokingly. "Hello...Hikou-chan?" it said again, increasing the fear that was heard in its depths. The light footsteps increased its speed, and the sound of strained breath joined the echoes. The voice called out one more, filled with great despair, and the footsteps slowly stopped. A sliver of immaculate white light appeared from the darkness, casting its lumination on the back of the owner of the voice. It was a young boy. He was panting heavily with his arms around himself in an effort to warm himself. The boy sensed an eerie prescene on his back and turned around with a start, and faced the light, revealing his features. It was Houjun. He was shaking all over and his pale face was covered in sweat and despair, but quickly filled with relief as he saw the light.  
_What is that?'_ he thought with a flash of hope, '_Is it a way out?'_ He stepped forward with one of his palms outstretched, and eventually felt it meet with what felt like an erect, flat piece of wood. '_A door!'_ he thought happily as a sudden rush of life filled him. He pushed opened the door afraid that the light inside would suddenly disappear. '_I was scared for nothing' _he scolded himself. He paused, and a single disturbing thought surfaced, _'But how did I get here? The last thing I remembered was sitting in front of a fire with baka Hikou-chan and someone else, and then falling asleep. Did Hikou-chan leave me?!! This almost feels like a dre----'_ his thoughts cut off as the door was flung open and the light in the room blinded him. He shaded his eyes from the light and put it down once his eyes adjusted to its luminance. The scene that welcomed him made his heart sicken with dread.  
A young couple were huddled in a corner of the room as if they were protecting something, and had expressions of shock and anguish on their face. A bloodied corpse was before them, coloring their new white carpet crimson. Maniacal laughter emitted from a another figure in a room. Houjun looked to where the sound came from.   
A tall man in a long black trenchcoat held a long sword at his side, blood dripping from its tip to the floor. He had a menacing, and almost insane look in his hazel eyes. The man wasn't ugly, but rather attractive. He had a well built body, and a handsome face, but the look it held would frighten even the smallest being from him. He tossed back his dark green hair away from his eyes and gave a snort.  
"Well well well," he began, "What do we have here?" he raised his sword and pointed it at the young man, "Hand her over."  
The young man shook violently all over but managed a response, "No...never," he said with great effort.   
_'Is he after the woman he's holding?'_ thought Houjun after observing the scene. _'I have to help them.'_ he thought. He tried to move his limbs, but they weren't doing what he told them,_ 'What's happening?!'_  
"No!! You'll never have her!!" screamed the woman whom the young man was holding, proving Houjun's theory wrong.  
_'Who are they talking about?_' Houjun thought desperately.  
The man with the sword scoffed and kicked the corpse in front of the young couple, "So, first you just sacrifice your father, and now you'll sacrifice yourselves?" he said bringing the sword closer to them, and teasing them by dragging the tip of it through their hair. He stopped and slammed the sword through the wall right above their heads, "And all just to protect her?...You make me sick." he pulled out the sword violently and in doing so slashed open the shoulder of the young man. The young man jerked away from it and screamed with pain, and the young woman immediately went to his side. When they moved from their first position, Houjun saw what they were protecting. Between them was a young child with a hood who was too shocked at what was happening to either cry or scream.   
The next scenes Houjun couldn't remember exactly. The man with the sword killed the young man and woman and approached the child in the corner. He raised the sword over the child head and was about to bring it down when a flash of brilliant white light filled the room and everything disappeared. Everything returned to darkness and Houjun felt a prickling in is arms and legs. Sensation was returning to his limbs. He collapsed onto the invisible floor, exhausted, and he put a hand to his forehead.  
_'What was that?'_ he thought, _'I...I couldn't help. I couldn't do anything!'_ he began to shake and his eyes became watery.  
"I want to go home!!!!!!" he screamed. He buried his face in his hands, and when he lifted his face from them he saw something red leaking from the walls of the black abyss. His heart jumped to his throat when he saw what it was. "Blood," he whispered almost inaudibly.  
It leaked from the dark walls, and slowly, like water, glided over the black floor and completely surrounded him. The blood swirled around him in a circle, and slowly closed in.  
"Make it stop....." Houjun said coarsely, "Make it stop. MAKE IT STOP!!!" he yelled in final despair.   
A pillar of red light came out of nowhere and protected him. It was a comforting light, Houjun could feel it. It was also different from anything Houjun ever felt before, and filled him with strong power.   
_ 'It's like as if its always been with me,'_ he thought, slowly relaxing. But, the strange red light did not help him for long. He saw that the blood outside of the pillar of light begin to rise into what appeared like a living being. It looked like a tornado of red water and approached Houjun, and he felt the barrier of red light diminishing.  
_ 'No! Don't go away,_' Houjun thought, _'I have to keep it working!' _Houjun balled his hands up and fists and shut his eyes, concentrating deeply.   
_'Keep working! Please!'_ he thought. He cracked open one eye, and only found disappointment. The red light had grew weaker and became a light pink color. And the tornado of blood drew closer.   
_ "No! I won't give up!"_ he said aloud. He closed his eyes again and concentrated harder. _'Please. If there is anybody out there. Please....Help me.' _Houjun felt something fill him, and he snapped open his eyes. The red light had just dwindled away, and was suddenly replaced with a pillar of blinding white light. The pillar of white light grew wider and combined with the blood, turning it into the light itself. The light controlled and dominated everything around it, and filled Houjun with peace.   
But, Houjun felt that there was still something wrong. In the now infinite white space, he saw something coming at him. It had a foreboding about it, and was also very small. It stopped right in front of Houjun, looked up with its dark, beady eyes, and leaped up at him.   
  


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  


  
Houjun woke from the dream with a start, panting heavily, with cold sweat on his brow. He stared up at the star filled sky and blinked. He sat up startled and looked around him.  
_'Oh, that's right. Hikou-chan and I are stuck in the woods'_ he thought relieved. _'A...dream? What was it about?'_ Houjun shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts, _'Umm...all I remember was light? Yea, light....and...blood?'_ he shook his head again.  
"Forget it!" he cried aloud, "I can't remember anything!" Houjun leaned his chin in his hands and looked around. The fire had reduced to embers, and his two other companions were fast asleep. Houjun looked down at his right knee and saw something red.  
_'Am I bleeding?'_ he thought. Houjun carefully rolled up his pants, but he found nothing there, _'That's weird. I must have been seeing things.'_  
Houjun resumed his watch of the surroundings. Hikou seemed to be sleeping soundly and had a contented smile on his face. He gave a loud snore all of a sudden and turned on his other side, still asleep. Houjun laughed at this and then turned his gaze to the other boy.  
The other boy looked completely different from Hikou. He was pale and shaking all over, and mumbling in his sleep. The lack of clothes on his upper body seemed to make matters worse. Houjun walked over to the injured boy and sat next to him. He put a hand to the boy's forehead.  
_ 'Ack, its burning. He has a really bad fever,'_ Houjun thought. He quickly pulled his hand away and stared at the injured boy, who was still mumbling incoherently. Houjun took a stray stick next to the diminishing fire and stirred it with it, hoping to revive the flames. He sighed when the embers just further dimmed. He got up and collected new piles of wood and managed to set ablaze a fire once more. Houjun smiled and took a look at the injured boy.  
"Still shaking," Houjun said softly. After a long pause, Houjun removed his own shirt and ripped of a piece of cloth. He took the piece of cloth and brought it to the nearby river. He then drenched it in water, wrung it dry, folded it into a neat rectangle and returned to the fire. Houjun placed the cool cloth on the injured boy's burning forehead and slipped his own shirt onto him.   
_'Now_ I'm _cold,' _he thought shaking. He stole another glance at the injured boy and saw that his small act of nursing had just barely helped him. Houjun sighed and hesitated slightly. Then he brought the boy into his own arms in a tight hug, hoping that his body heat would help in some way. Houjun buried his face in the other boy's soft lavender hair and breathed deeply.  
_ 'Smells nice,'_ Houjun thought, _'like...one of those fragrances kaa-san wears.' _ Houjun began to drift into sleep once again, when a sharp ruffling noise from the woods around him sharply brought him to his senses.   
_'What's that?'_ he thought alertly. "Hikou-chan, wake up!" he whispered loudly to the sleeping figure a few feet next to him. Houjun scooted closer to Hikou, while holding the injured boy in his arms. The noise sounded again, and he nudged Hikou slightly.  
"Mmm--hhh mama. One..sec...more." Hikou mumbled.  
"Hikou-chan! Wake up!" Houjun whispered to him again.  
Hikou cracked open one eye and looked up at Houjun. "Oh hi Houjun-chan." he said, and drifted off to sleep again. Houjun sighed, and listened closely as the sound resumed. The rustling of leaves was joined by the whispering of several voices.   
_ 'What are they saying?' _he thought, _'It sounds...like a chant or something.'_ Houjun shivered, but this time in fear. He didn't like how the voices sounded and he also didn't like how the rustling of the leaves increased. Houjun tightened his hold on the injured boy and tried to wake Hikou again, but unsuccessfully.   
_ 'They're getting closer. The voices,'_ he observed. He shut his eyes tight, and continued in his thought. _'I can feel them. It's like they're just right here.'_ Houjun's heart momentarily stopped when he felt a cold presence behind him.  
"Hikou-kun!!!" Houjun heard a new voice call, and he felt the eerie presence disappear. "Houjun!!!" the voice called out again. The chanting whispers slowly disappeared and footsteps were heard.   
"Hikou-kun!! Houjun-kun!!! Where are you??!!" More shouts calling their names were heard.  
_'Nii-chan???'_ Houjun thought in great relief. He cracked opened his eyes and saw a torch in the distance.  
"Nii-chan!!! Over here!!" called out Houjun in a booming voice. Houjun nudged Hikou, "Hikou-chan! They've found us!" Hikou sat up startled and rubbed his eyes.  
"Houjun is that you?" a voice called back.  
"YEA!!"  
"Where are you?"  
"You see that smoke?"  
"HAI!"  
"That's where we are! We made a fire!" Hikou finished.  
"Oh, Hikou-kun?! Yokatta, you're there too!" responded the voice. It drew closer, and several more torch lights appeared. Houjun looked intently at where the lights were coming from and a figure stepped out in front of them.  
_'It's him!'_ Houjun thought. His eyes opened in fear. Before him, was a man holding a sword with green hair that reached his shoulders. He smiled and called out Houjun's name. Houjun blinked his eyes, and his vision adjusted to who was really there. It was a young man, probably around seventeen, with aquamarine hair. He held a torch and grinned at Houjun.   
"NII-CHAN!!" Houjun put the injured boy on the grass, jumped up at the young man, and hugged him tightly. Other men from the village stepped out in front of them.  
"Heh, well konban wa Houjun," the young man said as he chuckled heartily.  
Hikou scrambled to his feet and greeted the man. "Toshiya-nii! You found us!!" He had a huge grin on his face and he walked forward, but tripped over the injured boy and got up quickly again. "Now we can get out of this baka place!"   
"Hikou-kun, clumsy as usual I see," Toshiya said, smiling greatly. Then he turned with a serious face to Houjun. "We? What do you mean 'WE'?"   
"Ah, demo nani? I thought--" Hikou began in confusion.  
Toshiya continued his hard gaze at Houjun and continued. "I'm sorry Houjun, but we will only be taking Hikou back." Houjun stared at his brother in shock and Hikou's jaw dropped to the ground.  
"What do you mean you're only taking me back? We have a hurt person here too, you know!" Hikou said defiantly. Houjun gave him a glare, "and we have to being Houjun-chan too!" Hikou added quickly.  
Toshiya shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry. Only Hikou-kun and the injured boy." Hikou stopped his protests at Toshiya's cold stare and Houjun remained silent.  
"I don't know why your doing this," Houjun finally said, "but...if I have to. I will." Houjun hung his head and stared at the ground. A moment of uncomfortable silence descended on them.  
"BWAHAHAHAH!!!!"   
Toshiya had burst out laughing and was holding his side, the few villagers that were with him joined in.   
"Hey! What's so funny?" Hikou asked angrily.   
Toshiya clasped a hand onto Houjun's shoulder. "Hehehe, you crack me up Houjun. I was just joking. For a kid your age, you're way too serious." A vein was seen popping up on Houjun's forehead. Houjun and Hikou bashed Toshiya on the head, and both walked away laughing and dusting off their hands in content.  
  


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   


  
It was three weeks since Hikou and Houjun's rescue in the woods and everything in Shoryuu had practically returned to normal. Houjun's father, who was the leader of the village, was a bit mad at first, but within a week and half's time, he was off buying presents for Houjun again. This included a new rubber ball. Hikou's parents, like Houjun's mom, were happy to have them back.  
"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Hikou insisted. He extended a hand out towards Houjun who was holding the beautifully designed ball in his hands, but Houjun just turned around and Hikou fell flat on the ground.  
"Say please, please," Houjun said smirking.  
Hikou jumped to his feet and ignored Houjun's request. "Gimme, gimme, gimme!" He lunged at Houjun and they rolled to the ground in laughter traveling down the street in this matter with passer-byers staring at them and smirking. The ball rolled out of Houjun's hand unnoticed and stopped at the feet of a young woman.  
"A-ano," she called out softly picking up the ball. "I...think this is yours." She sweatdropped as the boys continued their mock fight without hearing her.  
"It's no use," said Toshiya approaching the scene. He walked next to her and continued. "If the whole world exploded and they were the only ones left, they wouldn't even notice then." The young woman looked up Toshiya inquiringly.   
Toshiya smiled gently at her and explained. "The one with the light blue hair and weird bangs is my brother. And the one with the dark blue hair is his best friend."   
"Are they always like this?" she asked him.  
"Yup, always." Toshiya answered. He extended a hand to her and grinned. "But... there is one thing that WILL stop them." The young woman looked at him confused.  
"Here, give me the ball," he said. She handed it over to Toshiya and he gave out a whistle. Houjun and Hikou stopped their fighting, their hands around each others necks.   
"Look what I've got," Toshiya said, indicating to the ball.  
"Shimatta! He's got the ball!" Hikou yelled.  
"Nooo!! Now we'll never get it back!" Houjun moaned. The two boys ran up to Toshiya and tried to grab the ball from him, but he held the ball way out of their reach teasingly. The young woman giggled and Toshiya froze in embarrassment. She giggled harder and after looking at her after a short pause, Toshiya began to laugh too. Hikou and Houjun stopped their pursuit and looked at them strangely. The young woman put a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter, but Toshiya seized her hand gently and they stared into each others eyes. The young woman blushed and look down.  
"Ano....Atashi wa Kibou," she managed to say.  
Toshiya lifted up her face carefully and looked intently into eyes. "Kibou," he whispered softly, "that's a beautiful name." Kibou just blushed deeper and looked down again.   
"A-a-ano, and you are?" she stammered. Houjun and Hikou looked at what was happening before them and the situation clicked.  
"Ewwwww..." they said in unison. Toshiya who had completely forgotten about his little brother and his friend, turned to them with an eyebrow raised and a slight pink color on his cheeks.  
"Hey, don't you have to be somewhere?" Toshiya asked them, tossing the ball to Hikou.   
"Um, actually no," answered Hikou grinning, both at Toshiya's embarrassment and at obtaining the ball.  
"Hai, I agree with Hikou-chan for once," Houjun said, "I think we'd rather just stay here and watch." The boys laughed evilly and Kibou and Toshiya sweatdropped.  
An idea snapped into Toshiya's head and he gave it to them. "Don't you have to go check on that kid you guys saved from the woods a while back? I think he's over at Nashiro-san's place."   
"Sasu-baba's place?!" the boys asked shocked, with eyes wide opened. Toshiya rolled his eyes.  
"You kids making up weird stories about our town's doctor again?" asked Toshiya.  
"Eh he he he," laughed Houjun nervously. "Iie, iie! What is he talking about Hikou-chan?"  
"Uh, no idea Houjun-chan. Come on, come one. Iku so!" Hikou agreed. They crept away laughing nervously and stopping at intervals, looking back at Toshiya and Kibou.  
"OII! GET YOUR BUTS MOVING!" screamed out Toshiya. Kibou giggled as Hikou and Houjun dissapeared out of sight.  
  


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  


  
"This is it Hikou-chan!" Houjun said rasing his fists. "We'll be one of the first boys to enter Sasu-baba's place!" Hikou nodded his head eagerly in agreement.  
"And now she can't kick us out for being there!" added Hikou.  
"Yea!! Then we could tell all the guys that we went there all by ourselves!" Houjun said happily. Hikou began to smile to, but stopped in his tracks.  
"Demo...What if the story about her torturing that guy by pricking tiny needles all over his body is really true?" Hikou asked.  
"Don't worry about that!" assured Houjun, "There is no way that can be true.....If it was, the grown ups would have told us about it...ne? I mean, my tou-san knows her."   
Hikou wasn't paying attention to Houjun at that moment. He was looking greedily at Houjun's ball in his hands. Houjun saw this and tapped him with a finger lightly on the head.   
"That belongs to me," Houjun said outstretching his hand. A glint passed over Hikou's eyes and he ran away with it laughing with Houjun trailing behind him. The boys kept running and running until Hikou crashed into a sign in the street that read: "Medicine & Treatment". Houjun helped Hikou up and looked up at the sign.   
"Looks like we're here," Houjun told Hikou. The boys both gulped, looked at each other and nodded. Houjun slid open the wooden door and the boys peeked into the shop. The light inside was dingy, and the only source was from a single window with its blinds down. The room was covered with shelves of pots filled, supposedly, with medicine. The boys slowly entered the shop.  
"Sumimasen?" called out Houjun.  
"Sumimasen?" repeated Hikou, "Well, guess no one's here! Let's leave!" Hikou said making a move for the door. Houjun grabbed onto Hikou's clothes.  
"Matte," Houjun said. Houjun took a closer look around the room and took a few steps forward, dragging Hikou. "Ah, there's a door there, see." Houjun pointed at a door next to the counter. "Come on, let's go." Houjun dragged Hikou to the door, opened it and slammed it shut immediately.   
"Eh? Nani nani?" asked Hikou, seeing Houjun's panicked look.  
"There---pins--person," Houjun said through broken breaths.  
"Really? Lemme see," said Hikou. Houjun tried to stop Hikou, but Hikou managed to get passed him and he opened the door widely. He saw a person on the floor, with several needles sticking out of his back. An old woman was hovering over him and added more needles in several different places. She noticed the boys and looked up at them abruptly.  
"Oh, hello," she said merrily, poking more pins into the person's flesh, "Yes, do you need something?"  
"Ah, ah, ah," Hikou began.  
"Houjun," said Houjun pointing to himself, too shocked to do anything else, "Hikou." Houjun added pointed at Hikou, who was still saying 'ah' over and over again.  
"Oh! So you're the two kids who saved that other kid?" she asked them, and then continued without an answer, "You did a relatively good job taking care of her. I'll go call her right now."  
Hikou snapped out of his trance. "Wait, a HER?"  
"Her? We didn't save any girl, it was a guy," Houjun pointed out. Sasu-baba laughed hard at this and grinned at them. The boys winced at what they saw---two black teeth in her upper jaw, and four crooked yellow teeth in the bottom jaw.  
"Well, at her age. I guess you wouldn't really be able to tell," she said before heading to another room in the back. Houjun and Hikou just stared at each other in confusion.  
"It must Sasu-baba that made a mistake," Houjun said shrugging.   
After a short amount of time, Sasu-baba came out again smiling and showing her "teeth". Someone stepped out from behind Sasu-baba. It was clearly a young girl (you could tell by her clothes), a few years younger than Houjun and Hikou, with lavender hair tied up in a single elegant bun at the back of her head, and with large bluish-green eyes. She stepped forward to Hikou and Houjun and bowed to them with energy.  
"Atashi wa Kouran," she said after raising herself to proper posture. She smiled at them and added, "Hajimemashite."   
  
***OWARI* Episode 2: Mugen to Kaibyaku **  
  
  
_Language Notes:_  
*Mugen to Kaibyaku means Dreams and Beginnings   
*Moshi Moshi means Hello  
*Yokatta means Thank God  
*Konban Wa means Good Evening  
*Baka means Idiot, stupid, etc.  
*Kaa-san mean Mom  
*Nii-chan means Older Brother  
*Toshiya-nii means Brother Toshiya  
*Atashi wa Kibou means I am Kibou  
-The name Kibou means Hope  
*Sasu-baba means Pricking Old Lady  
*Iie means No  
*Shimatta is a light cuss word that can sometimes be traslated as Oh, no! but can also be traslated as Shit  
*Iku so! means Let's Go!  
*Demo means But  
*Ne? means Right?  
*Matte means Wait  
*Nani means What  
*Sumimasen means Excuse Me  
*Hajimashite means Nice To Meet You  
*Atashi wa Kouran means I'm Kouran.  
*Owari means The End  
  
Kanji Notes: (if you don't know what kanji is, just ignore this ^_^)  
The word Mugen in the episode title is made of the kanji: yume and maboroshi, which is roughly translated as dream and vision. So the title can be translated as Dreams, instead  
of the word Mugen meaning Infinite that is written with a different set of kanji.   
  
**_Disclaimer:_**  
Fushigi Yuugi and the characters Houjun, Hikou, and Kouran do not belong to me!! They belong to the almighty Watase Yuu-sama, Flower Comics, Shogakukan, Badau, TV Tokyo, Movic, Studio Pierrot, and other great people whom I have no idea exist. The U.S. rights are owned by Viz Communications and Pioneer.   
The story itself is mine. So please do not take it without my permission first. If you would like to post this fic on your webpage or something, please e-mail me at OChichiriNoMikoO@aol.com. Arigatou gozaimashta!!  
  
**Author's Notes:**  
'Allo there!! ^_^ I hope ur enjoying my fic. ::crosses fingers:: hehe, well newayz some of you might wonder why I made Kouran's hair lavender. Well, here's my story. There's actually two.   
Here's the long one: I had no idea what the color of her hair was so I rewatched the OAVs and TV series and flipped through the manga. In the manga, I had to idea what the color of her hair was. In the TV series her hair was brown, and in the OAVs there were flashbacks that her hair was brown too, but the thing is, whenever it showed a flashback another chracter was in the scene too. The character was either Chichiri/Houjun or Hikou, but they didn't have their proper hair color, but had brown instead. It happened that the whole scene was just in brown and yellow (think black and white), so I didn't think the proper hair color was there. Then, in another flashback thingy in the OAVs, it showed Hikou, Chichiri/Houjun in their proper hair color. Kouran was in that scene too, and her hair was lavender, so I stuck with lavender.   
Here's the short story: Why did I stick to lavender? Simply put, lavender is my favorite color, hehe ^_^ Oh yea, I would also like to mention that I probably am going to finish "Hitori Ja Nai" before I post it up on the internet. I think it's more convinient and enjoyable if you can read it all at the same time. It can also help me review the whole series after I finish writing it, and change things around if neccesssary. If you think otherwise, please tell me and I'll see what I can do. If you have questions, comments, or criticism. Please e-mail me at OChichiriNoMikoO@aol.com. I would really love to hear from you! ^_~  



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